Vermont

Photo by Bruce MacQueen

According to the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, turkeys were extirpated there by the mid-1800s. As with many Northern turkey hunting states, trap-and-transfer efforts have established huntable flocks. Restoration began in 1969 and 1970, when the state's wildlife biologists live-trapped 31 New York turkeys and released them in Pawlet and Hubbardton. Vermont now has turkeys in most regions of the state.

Vermont has a two-bird limit (both can be taken in one day), and license prices are fair. Public land is abundant, and private land access can often be negotiated. Vermont hunters took 5,763 birds during Spring 2023. Youth and novice hunters added 823 birds. Poult production was down this past year, so hunters might see fewer jakes on the landscape in 2024. However, overwinter survival was expected to be excellent, so biologists believe turkeys should be in top physical condition come spring.

The Connecticut River region (the Vermont/New Hampshire border), White River Valley and Lake Champlain Valley are typically turkey hunting hotspots. There are more than 500,000 acres of public land available to Vermont turkey hunters.

Editor’s Note: Articles about public hunting are always popular with Realtree.com readers, but we’re public-land hunters, too, and we recognize that technology has made it more difficult than ever to keep a great hunting spot secret. With that in mind, we have made some edits to this piece to trim out specific mentions of some public tracts. The information is still out there and easy to find for anyone who wants to do the research, but we’ve decided that with a platform of our size, it’s best not to share all the secrets. — Team Realtree